Mail box



De. 21,1926. 1,611,23s-- J. w.- REUTZEVL MAIL Box Fi led Nov. 4,, 1925 1J I1 RewiZeZ Y 14 I Y amm Patented D sc. 21, 1926.

warren stat-as when ra se.

oint vr. REUTZE'L, or TRENTON, NEBRASKA.

' MAIL 30x.

Application filed November 4, 1925. Serial No. 66,783.

the rear edge thereof mayserve as .means for engaging the rear wall ofthe receptacle r and limiting movement of the cover an openingdirection.

Another object of the invention is to-provide improved means formovin'gthe cover to an open position when released from a latchcarriedby the front wall of the receptacle, the said means consisting ofa weight carried by a bar secured to the cover and serving not only as aweight carrying bar but also serving as means to engage the latch sothat thecover will be firmly held in a closed position.

This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, whereinFigure 1 is a perspective view of the mail box, and

Fig. 2 isa transverse sectional view through the mail box.

The receptacle or body portion of the mail box is open at its top andincludes a bottom 1, end walls 2 and front and rear walls 3 and 4, therear wall being of greater depth than the front wall and the upper edgesof the end Walls extending at an incline from the upper edge of the rearwall to the upper edge of the front wall. The receptacle is formed froma blank cut or stamped from sheet metal such as galvanized iron or thelike, and the end walls 2 are bent to form flanges 5 which extend inoverlapping relation to the ends of the front and rear walls and aresecured thereto by rivets 6 or in any other desired manner. The upperedge portionsrof the walls are turned inwardly, as shown in Fig. 2, sothat the upper edge portions of the walls will be reinforced and sharpedges eliminated.

The lid or cover 7 is of a length and width to completely cover the openupper'end of the receptacle and is formed with end flanges 8 andfrontand rear side flanges 9 and 10 which extend downwardly foroverlapping the walls of the receptacle when the lid is closed. It will,therefore, be seen that these flanges willserve to firmly hold the coverin proper engagement with the receptacle and prevent rain and snow fromdriving into the receptacle. mount the cover orlid for swinging movement from a closed to an open position are of a conventional double leafconstruction and each has one leaf secured tot he inner face of thecover by rivets or other suitable fasteners 12 and its other leafsecured against the inturned edge portion of the rear wall bysimilarfasteners; Referring to Fig,

2, it will be seen that the'rear flangelO ex-. tends in divergingrelation to the rearl-wall when the cover or lid is closeda11d,.th'ere'- fore, itwill not interfere with the cover being swungupwardlyto an open position;

When, however, the cover 'i's'open, the flange- 10 engages the rear walland therefore serves as abutment means to limit movement ofthe cover inan opening direction. i

It is desired tohave the cover normally held closed but caused to moveto an open position when released.- There has, therefore, been provideda bar 13 which is formed of iron or any suitable metal and secured uponthe upper face of the cover transversely of the same by bolts or otherfasteners 14.

The hinges 11 which This bar 13 has its forward cover engaging portionflattened so that it may be firmly engaged with the cover and has itsforward end projecting from the forward edge -of the cover" forengagement by a latch 15 at the free end of a spring strip 16'securedvertically against the outer face of the front wall 3. The rearend portion 17 of the'bar 13 extends from the rear edge of the cover andconstitutes a lever arm which carries a The weight may be perma weight18. nently secured upon the free end of the arm 17 or 1t may beadjustable longitudinally thereon. It will be readily understood that,when the latch 15 is swung out of engagement with the extended forwardend of the bar 13, the weight 18 will cause the cover to be swungupwardly in an op'ening'direction until further movement is stopped- 1 1through engagementof the abutment flange 10 with the'rear wall ofthe'receptacle. The

cover will, therefore, be very securely held in a closed position aslong as the latch is in engagement with the projecting forward i 0 endof the bar 18 but can be easily opened as the'latch may be readily movedout of engagement with the forward end of thebar and when released thecover will be quickly moved to the open position so that access may behad to the interior of the receptacle. Letters and papers to bedeliveredby the mail men can then be placed in the receptacle and thecover closed and again secured by engagement of theleteh with theforward end of the bar. A strip 19 of resilient metal is secured totheunderi tape of the cover and provides a clip to engage letters to becollected-by the mail men. In rural free delivery distriets, it is oftennot convenient 1 to, obtain stamps and, therefore there hasbeenrprovideda pocket 20 which is secured to the inner face of thfe-reur well so that money to cover the; postgge due upon the letters to be'c( )llected may be pleeed i-n this poel rfet and removed by the mailman Flanges 21faref orl'ned at the ends oi the pocket so that the coinswill not be liable to roll out of the poelret and drop into the bottomof therecepteele. There has further been providedsignal plate igwvhiehis p votelly seeured to the outer face of the rear flange 10 so that itmay be swung upwardly to the position shown when mail is pl-eGEdin thereceptacle. lVhen no mail is in the receptacle, the signal is swungdovvnviardly and the ear 23,1"j0r1'ned by bending one corner of theplate; engages the upper 30 face of the cover so that the signal will notmove downwardly beyond a desired position. 'lhere has, therefore, beenprovided e'ineil b'ofi of the rural free delivery type which is simplein its construction but very elli oient in its operation.

Having thus described the. inventiom vI claim; I M e p v A mail boxcomprising reee'pteele open at its top e lid said receptacle liiijigjedto the rear, \varll' tliereolf' a bar seoured upon said lid andextending transversely "thereof with itsforward end projecting from theforward edge or the lidend'its reer endpoiton extending from the rear ege lie lid, alntch carried by the front "ll of the rec'epticle to. en gethe 1 "Oli Gted frontl d of said bar and reens'f y hol lid Closed, inda; w ht carrledby' the real: ndp l i .d, iwi lid to swing to an openposition vl leased from Said latch.

" n testimony. whereof I iflfiirrm Signture,

JOHN. W. Re-U'rzEn. [njsl

